In partnership with Salford Clinical Commissioning Group, Mindful Me provided emotional health and wellbeing support, advice and guidance to year 9 pupils in a total of 13 Salford schools and 4 youth groups.

Mindful Me aims to use early intervention and prevention tools and techniques to help young people and teachers with their emotional health and wellbeing. Social Sense then use social marketing techniques to positively improve confidence, resilience and happiness via methods such as posters, embedding support and the Mindful Me app.

The Mindful Me project adopts a similar model used in our Public-Sector Communications Award-winning R U Different? programme (www.rudifferent.co.uk) (Social Marketing Campaign of the year 2016) and Change Up Programme (Social Marketing Campaign of the year 2017).

Social Sense achieved its aim of engaging 2000 young people in Salford in receiving of the Mindful Me group sessions and achieved impacts such as a 7% reduction shift in self-harming.

Programme Manager of Mindful Me, Reece Hobson said the team were delighted with the nomination.

“Emotional health and wellbeing is such an important topic and needs to be addressed. The Mindful Me programme in Salford delivered some fantastic outcomes like a 7% reduction in self-harming and a very positive increase in confidence following the session. We’re delighted with the nomination and look forward to the ceremony.”

Francine Thorpe, Director of Quality & Innovation for NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: “ The CCG is keen to work with partners in promoting innovation that supports our strategic priorities. I am delighted to see that this project, which aims to improve mental wellbeing for young people in Salford, has been shortlisted for this award”.

The 2018 event will take place at the prestigious Montcalm Marble Arch, London on 20 June 2018.

87% of young people say that regular monitoring of their growth using BMI (Body Mass Index) centiles would help them to make more informed choices surrounding diet and lifestyle, a recent Manchester based study of over 1000 young people has found.

In addition, approximately 3 out of 4 young people said that they would be interested in knowing how their height (78%) and weight (71%) changes over time.